Never Too Late
by FayeValentine00
Summary: At 22, Hermione realizes that she is in love with Harry but doesn't know what to do about it.


**It's Never Too Late**

**By: FayeValentine00**

I guess the feeling had been building inside of me for a long time but I'd tried to ignore it. I'd tried to pretend like it was nothing or that it was just a phase. I kept telling myself that soon the feeling would pass and things would get back to normal but they haven't. In fact, I'm starting to think that they never will.

I am twenty-two years old, a college graduate, an accomplished witch, a good friend and I pretty much have "Hogwarts: A History" memorized. Life should be good but there is one nagging thing in the back of my mind that keeps me up at night and I don't know what to do about it. If I said those words out loud, Ron would probably laugh at me. He's always saying that I have the answer to everything and sometimes I think that's part of the reason why we broke up last year. Thankfully we remained best friends and I still value his opinion immensely but this is something I can't even tell him…. Especially him.

What would I even say? "Hi, Ron. I love you dearly as a friend and I am glad we had those four years together but now I am in love with our other best friend, Harry. Sorry about that!" Umm… No. That would never work.

How could I ever tell _anyone_ how I feel? Ginny? No. She has been in love with Harry even since she'd laid eyes on him and even though they never got back together after 6th year, she'd never lost hope. I could never do that to her. Luna? Ha! The story would be on the front of the next Inquisitor. She wouldn't mean to blab but it would still happen. Tonks? Neville? Fred? George? Bill? Lupin? NO!

This was the dilemma. I realized about 6 months ago that I love Harry. In fact, I realized that I'd loved Harry for a very long time but I'd ignored it. Besides, it just always seemed to make sense that I would be with Ron and Harry would be with Ginny and we would all be one big happy family. I guess at some point I thought that if I just tried hard enough, it would make the dream come true but I couldn't.

My time with Ron was great and he is a wonderful person but I was living a lie. Ron deserves a girl that can love him with all her heart and never look back at what could have been or what should have been. He deserves a girl who will give him all the love and affection that he could ever want but in the later stages of our relationship, I realized that the girl Ron needed wasn't me. I think Ron knew it too because when we finally broke it off, it was mutual. There were very few tears, lots of hugs and the next day we were able to talk again without feeling completely awkward.

With all the being said, what was I supposed to do? Sure, we were both single and had been for a while but I don't think Harry would even believe me if I told him the truth. I have the horrible feeling that we've been friends too long and I am afraid if I do confess, I will lose that friendship forever.

If it were anyone else in this situation, I would probably laugh. I would tell them that you had to take chances in life but right now I was finding my own advise difficult, if not impossible, to follow.

Just as I was about to sign dramatically, I heard a faint clicking on my window and looked up to see Hedwig waiting with post attached to her leg. Quickly, I opened the window, gave the beautiful owl a treat from my desk drawer and removed the note to see what Harry had sent.

_Hermione,_

_I know this is short notice but I really need your help. Tonks is trying to force me into going on yet **another** blind date and we both know how disastrous the last one was. Anyway, would you please come along with us? Tonks says she has a date for you too. Please._

_At least if it goes bad, this time we'll have each other._

_Harry_

I laughed as I read the letter remembering all the blind dates Tonks had sent Ron, Harry and I on. We were only 22 years old but in her eyes, we should be married and busy making babies. Ever since she and Lupin got married, she has taken it upon herself to be the official matchmaker. Ron, Harry and I have suffered ever since.

My initial thought was to decline. What if this girl turned out to be _the one_ for Harry? Did I really want to be there when that happened? On the other hand, going on the date might be fun and I would get to be with Harry…

I picked up my quill and wrote my reply.

_Harry,_

_Tonks is never going to give up, is she? I'll come and protect you from your blind date. As long as this girl doesn't get you drunk and try to marry you while you don't know any better like the last girl did, we should be okay. _

_Pick me up at 7:00pm. Tell Tonks we'll meet the others in a public place. The last time I gave a blind date my address, he turned into a stalker._

_Hermione_

When Hedwig was out the window and on her way back to Harry's flat across town, I went to my closet to find the appropriate outfit. Personally, I would love to go on a date in jeans and a jumper but I just couldn't. After years of fighting Voldemort at Harry's side, the wizard media still hounded us and every week or so a picture appeared in the post. I learned quickly that looking bad was a sure bet that you'd be on the front page with a headline that read, "Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's Best Friend, Has Given Up On Life" or something else utterly dramatic and entirely untrue. I silently thanked God that I wasn't Harry because for him, it was one hundred times worse.

I ended up settling for a black and red plaid skirt that ended well above the knee, a black button down top that was form fitting but not trashy and my black knee-high boots that Ginny had bought me for my birthday last year. She told me that I had nice legs and I should show them. Besides, if she saw the picture in the post, she'd get a thrill out of telling everyone that she'd bought them for me. She'd always been good at picking fashions.

By 6:30, I was ready complete with make-up even though I knew Harry would probably tease me. I'd gotten so sick of these blind dates that I usually didn't go all out but something told me that tonight I should and I'd had the time so why not? At 6:52, I heard a knock on my front door.

"Come in!" I called from the bedroom where I was cleaning up just in case I brought someone home with me. It hadn't happened in a long time but hey, you never know. Once I heard the door open and close again, I shouted, "Be right there!"

"Thanks, Hermione. I really appreciate you coming with me on such short notice," Harry called back.

A moment later, I came down the hall and Harry did a noticeable double take that made me nervous. "What is it? Is there something on my top?" I asked the words quickly as I looked myself over.

"No, no. You're fine, Hermione. I just haven't seen that outfit before." He still had a weird look on his face so I pressed again.

"Are you sure? Do you think it's too much? I can go change," I said quickly, turning to go back to my room but Harry caught my arm.

"No, Hermione. You look great. Like I said, I'd just never seen the outfit before." He turned me around and made me look him in the eye. "You're perfect just the way you are." He said the last line with a smile that I returned.

"Thanks, Harry," I managed to answer, trying my best not to blush. I looked over his black slacks and green dress shirt that matched his eyes exactly and squeezed his hand. "You look nice too."

A part of me wanted to tell Harry that we should just forget the others and make a night of it on our own but I still couldn't. I was afraid. So we made our way to a coffee shop just outside of London where we were to meet our dates for the evening. We were not at all surprised to find the same sort of people Tonks always found to set us up with.

Lexi, short for Alexandria, was a cute, peppy girl who hardly looked old enough to be out of Hogwarts. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, a tiny figure and stars in her eyes. She went on and on about how someday she was going to be just as famous as Harry to which he rolled his eyes when only I was looking. Anyone who'd known Harry for more than five minutes would know that the look on his face was sheer boredom, not interest.

Danny was tall, dark, handsome and completely boring. From the first moment we arrived, Danny took my hand and wouldn't give it back. Trying to be nice, I allowed him to hold my hand but continually shot exasperated glances to Harry whenever Danny wasn't looking which made Harry laugh at inappropriate times. Thankfully Lexi was so busy talking about herself she hardly noticed.

"So, Lexi," I finally broke in when the young girl took a breath 30 minutes into the date. "What was your favorite subject at Hogwarts?" I felt dumb asking her that but it was the safest subject that I could think of.

"Oh, that's easy! Divination was my favorite. I loved learning what the future holds!" She gushed so enthusiastically that I almost spit out my tea. As it was, I choked and Harry played it off well, patting my back and trying not to laugh.

"D-Divination?" I couldn't help but stare right through this girl. How could Tonks have even thought she'd be a good match for Harry? They, quite literally, had _nothing_ in common. All Harry had ever wanted was peace and to be left alone but Lexi was the polar opposite. "That's… interesting. Okay, Danny. What about you?"

Danny smiled when I finally addressed him by name and it made him squeeze my hand even tighter. "I was never much for school. I was a Quidditch player."

Finally, I lost my composure and started laughing which caused both Danny and Lexi to look at me in confusion. Harry, on the other hand, took a much longer sip of coffee than needed to cover his amusement.

"Look, Danny," I said as nicely as possible while I used my free hand to pry his fingers off the other. "I am sure you are a wonderful man but this just isn't going to work. Harry?" I asked, looking at him and ignoring Lexi. "Would you mind taking me home? I'm starting to feel tired."

Harry was out of his seat and saying his goodbyes to Lexi before the words were finished coming out of my mouth. Harry paid the bill and we rushed out the door. We managed to run around the corner before busting out laughing.

"Okay, Harry. That is it!" I shouted when I finally got a bit of composure. "You owe me one. I am never going on another date set up by Tonks for the rest of my life!"

"Aw, come on, Hermione. It could have been worse," he said with mock seriousness but his eyes gave him away and he pulled me into a tight hug. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course I came, Harry. I'm not just going to leave you to the wolves," I answered, hugging him back and for a moment allowing myself to enjoy the embrace that I'd wish meant more.

"Besides, you got to wear a new outfit."

"Yeah but no one was looking at it!" I tried to make my voice sound playful but I knew it fell flat.

There was a long pause while we hugged before he spoke. "I was…" he said softer this time, his voice sounding less confident.

Harry loosed his embrace and pulled back just enough so I could look into his eyes and he smiled. It was a shy smile that I didn't see on him much anymore and it made my heart flutter. "You look beautiful tonight, Hermione."

I opened my mouth to speak but no sound came out. I was in shock and I don't know how long I would have stood there gluping in confusion like a fish out of water if Harry hadn't done the unexpected. We looked into each others eyes for a long time, and then without any warning, Harry kissed me. He pressed his lips firmly to mine and kissed me.

It wasn't a romantic kiss at first. It was a nervous testing of the waters and when he pulled back he looked at me once more and I found my voice. "I love you, Harry."

"I love you too," he answered. His voice sounded husky and I couldn't help thinking that it was terribly sexy. "Haven't you wondered why I never really dated anybody these last few years? I couldn't get my mind off of you."

This time, as I blinked back tears, _I_ kissed Harry. Our arms wrapped around each other tightly and this time it was romantic. It was the kind of kiss you'd dream of. Both give and take, emotions running high and a euphoric sense of relief that the one person you've loved from afar has been feeling the same way.

"You should have told me sooner," I managed to say, ignoring the tears as he held me tight.

"I didn't think you'd feel the same way. I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

"I thought it was too late."

Pulling back, Harry wiped a tear from my cheek and smiled. "It would never have been to late," and when he kissed me again, I knew it was true. As we kissed, I couldn't help thinking that maybe my room would get some use tonight after all.

**The End**


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